Hasina has exhausted legal avenues to challenge death sentence, Bangladesh prosecutor says

Bangladesh’s chief prosecutor at the International Crimes Tribunal said on Tuesday that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had exhausted her legal options and must face execution of her death sentence for crimes against humanity.

“Sheikh Hasina has no legal option left but to face execution of her death sentence,” Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam told reporters at the tribunal in Dhaka.

“If she genuinely wanted to return to Bangladesh, she would have come back while the trial was ongoing and faced the case,” he said.

Islam added that Hasina could have appealed within 30 days of the verdict’s publication.

He rejected reports that a London-based legal chamber had sought a Bangladeshi passport or travel document for Hasina, citing restrictions under the Bangladesh Passport Order, 1973, on issuing passports to convicted individuals.

The prosecutor questioned whether elements within Hasina’s Awami League party were using her as a “trump card” to destabilise Bangladesh.

“If she genuinely wants to return, she should make a written request to the Indian government seeking her return under the extradition treaty,” he said.

Hasina has remained in India since fleeing Bangladesh in August 2024 following a mass uprising.

Her legal status in India remains “unclear”, according to a report published on Tuesday by Bangladeshi newspaper Daily Waadaa.

Last November, Hasina was sentenced to death by the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity over her role in a crackdown during the 2024 uprising that ousted her government.

At least 1,400 people were killed and thousands injured during the uprising, according to the UN, which attributed many of the deaths to Hasina’s security forces and supporters of her Awami League party.

TRT World / Anadolu Agency — TRT World / Anadolu Agency

Photo: AFP